


my claustrophobic neighbour, Byun Baekhyun

by littlessuga



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Actor Baekhyun, Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Claustrophobia, Comfort, Cooking, Cute, Elevators, First Dates, Flashbacks, Fluff, M/M, Neighbors, Romance, Trapped In Elevator, Two Shot, chanyeol centric, cooking under the influence, kind of ?, or more, producer chanyeol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-13
Updated: 2016-11-24
Packaged: 2018-07-14 21:45:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7191941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlessuga/pseuds/littlessuga
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>in which chanyeol lives in the same floor as a seemingly mysterious boy and one day they get stuck in an elevator whichs leads to some surprising situations.</p><p> </p><p>/// THIS FIC HAS BEEN ABANDONED. IM SORRY TO ALL WHO WERE EXPECTING REST OF THE CHAPTERS :(</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

The heat burning his cheeks is becoming unbearable, surely alcohol has its impact but the hot steam rising from the pot isn't making life any easier. It's almost 2AM on a Wednesday night and Chanyeol is hammered. And, no, he isn't sad or lonely, more like vice versa.

Chanyeol's sight steals a glimpse of the other person in the kitchen with him and soon a smile embellishes his face. The person isn't a stranger, or at least now under the influence, doesn't seem like one. The truth behind this not-so-mysterious person is that it's his neighbor, but it's another story how he got into Chanyeol's kitchen in the middle of the night, with both of them wasted out of their minds. Chanyeol lifts the lid of the pot the steam is escaping from and makes a theatrical sniffling noise and some weird hand gestures that he's trying to make look like chef's gestures. It seems like the other person gets the joke and a bright laugh fills the room, and Chanyeol can't do anything but smile and laugh himself.

It's easy to admit, Chanyeol's always been a little curious about his neighbor. Chanyeol's personality is quite inquisitive and he knows it without thinking about it too much. He's quite used to toning down that aspect of his personality because he gets it, some people are more private than others, and he feels like his neighbor is one of those people. Chanyeol’s curiosity towards the person next door to him sparked when one night Chanyeol was coming back from the studio.

It was raining outside and it seemed like it was going to thunder soon. Just when he made it inside, a lightning split the night sky into two and he was mesmerized by the sight. When he got his eyes off the storming sky, he saw a figure dash inside from under his arm which was still holding the door open. He let the door close and turned, eyes meeting another pair of eyes, dark and quirky. It took a few more encounters for Chanyeol to figure out that the person was his next door neighbor. Since that day every time they share an elevator, he can't help feeling a little jumpy. He just needs to get some information to tame his curiosity whether it is his name, zodiac sign or favorite food.

So one beautiful (in Chanyeol's eyes) day, they bump into each other in the elevator which is pretty common but today Chanyeol makes a decision to speak up because he figures “why not?”. A chance is given and he aims for it. "How's your week been?" he starts, voice still little scruffy because it's only 8AM and he hasn't spoken to anyone yet. He clears his throat and flashes a shy smile to his neighbor. Luckily, his neighbor lifts his head up and the look in his eyes is a little complicated to describe, it might be surprise, joy or even annoyance and Chanyeol surely hopes like crazy that it isn't the latter possibility.

"It's been alright, the weather has just made it worse, don't you think?" he suddenly hears an answer to his question and his eyes light up. _"Wow, he might not actually hate me!_ That's a win." he thinks to himself. "Yeah, I guess the weather has been more sucky than it was last year during this month." he cackles an answer out, hopefully sounding like a normal human being. Truthfully, Chanyeol couldn't care less about the weather, but for this mysterious companion he could pretend weather is the only thing he cares about. The other boy makes an approving noise and nods. 

Then the awkward silence lands among them and Chanyeol can't help but to start tapping his foot to the floor, because there are few things he simply cannot bear and silences are one of the few things that make him _really_ nervous.

"So hmm, how long have you lived here?" he asks trying to break the ice, again, and looks at his neighbor. He only moved to his apartment a month ago and hasn't seen anyone move to his floor after him so he assumes this boy has lived here longer than he has. 

Chanyeol's eyes meet the other pair of eyes in that elevator and his neighbor answers: "I've lived here for six months, since I started university in September". An university student. Of course he's an university student, who else than Chanyeol wouldn't be at his, wait, their, age. "Cool, we're the same age.." Chanyeol thinks to himself and nods frantically to somehow show that he has heard the other boy.

Chanyeol is just about to open his mouth and ask something else, possibly pretty stupid, when suddenly, the elevator creaks and stops. Chanyeol lets out a sigh and right away assumes that there’s a technical difficulty of some sorts and they’re now stuck in the elevator. “Just my luck..” goes through his mind and he crosses his arms and leans to right, feeling the cold steel of the elevator wall press against his back.

Seconds later the two boys' eyes meet and Chanyeol processes the look on his neighbors face: he looks very worried, brows furrowed, jaw clenched and mouth set in a hard line. Chanyeol himself didn't enjoy this that much either but he's been stuck in elevators before because of, well, reasons. Truthfully the reason why he’s used to this is that his ex was really into getting freaky in some weird places and an elevator was one of the most _normal_.

His own brows furrow when he sees the worry develop into panic in the other boy's eyes. "Hey, are you okay?" Chanyeol blurts out before thinking. He starts to chew on the inside of his cheek and looks at the other boy, now feeling a little distressed himself. The other boy just looks down and presses his arms tightly to his sides. "I-I'm fine.." might be what he is possibly trying to mumble but Chanyeol can’t figure it out before he sees that his neighbors legs give up and he stumbles on the floor.

Chanyeol immediately kneels down next to him, lifts him to a sitting position, and puts his hands on his shoulders. "Hey! You! Look at me, are you with me?" he asks in a furious tone.

Chanyeol's always been really keen on taking care of others. Once in middle school, a girl got hit in the head with a basketball and without hesitation, he took her to the nearest hospital with his bike. The skinny, awkward-height, 14-year-old Park Chanyeol struggled his way to the hospital and got a kiss for a reward when the girl got better. Not that the kiss was the reason why he did, he has just always been taught that there is always a chance to do good and that's what he lives by.

Now when his neighbor is nearly unconscious on his arms, something snaps inside him and he just knows he has to do all he can so that the other boy would feel better. The first thing he can think of is slapping the other boy to make sure he's awake so that’s what he proceeds with.

_Slap_.

"Yeah, he's awake, okay, now what? What else can I do?" he thinks feverishly when the slap results in a little whine and a puckered forehead. The other boy looks sickly pale under the cold metallic light of the elevator. For a moment, Chanyeol ponders over the thought of what he needs to do next and then he remembers he has juice in his bag. After making sure that the other boy, now somehow limp, stays in his steady sitting position, he scoots over to his bag that he had dropped off from his shoulder at some point and goes through it to find the juice he had thought of for his breakfast. He finds it and tosses his bag mindlessly back to the floor and closes the small distance between him and his neighbor.

“Hey, do you think you could have a sip of this?” he sets his hand back on the other’s shoulder and asks, trying to sound somehow sturdy but still friendly because the last thing he wants is to upset or scare his seemingly anxious and groggy neighbor. The other boy opens his eyes slightly and looks at Chanyeol in confusion but then notices the small bottle of the orange colored liquid. He nods lightly and lifts his arm to get the bottle. Chanyeol passes the bottle to him and watches as the other boy gulps some of the juice. “Ah, thank you..” the other boy breathes when he finishes drinking. He wipes his mouth to the corner of this jacket, screws the cap on and passes the juice back to its original owner.

“Oh no, you keep it! You seem like you might need it more than me.” Chanyeol says and holds his hand up as a sign of rejection. Chanyeol gives a half-smile when his neighbor looks at him in surprise and begins to explain his line of thought: “I mean, you did kind of faint so your energy levels are probably pretty low, meaning you need sugar.” A little joyful sound leaves the other boy’s mouth, almost like a giggle and he looks at Chanyeol and says something that catches Chanyeol off guard. “I didn’t think you were the caring kind, not with your looks.” the other boy says still looking at him and now smiling a bit wider.

_“Why, wait, what is he trying to say?”_ Chanyeol’s inner monologue starts and his mouth forms a little pout. “I mean, you do look a little intimidating because of your height and all of those black droopy hoodies you wear with the hood over your head aren’t making you seem like the soft type either.” the other boy continues and makes Chanyeol feel even more confused, if that’s even possible at this point. “Wait, what are you trying to say?” Chanyeol turns to the other boy and asks, nibbling on his lower lip. “I’m trying to say that you just broke the mental image I’ve had of you for a month, and I’m pretty happy about that.” the boy answers while sliding his back up the wall of the elevator and getting back on his feet.

Almost like the boy’s words were the cue, the elevator creaks again and starts moving, shaking a little but other than that, going down the elevator shaft steadily. “Oh, thank God this started working again!” the other boy exclaims while checking his wrist watch and shifting to see himself on the reflecting surface of the elevator door. He fixes his hair and goes down his shirt, smoothing it with his hands. The elevator jumps a little, makes a ping noise and stops. Chanyeol looks at the small screen on top of the elevator door and it says “0”, meaning that they’ve reached the bottom floor. Before Chanyeol can act up, the elevator door is open and his neighbour is already almost out of the door.

“Hey, thanks for looking out for me, it was really sweet of you.” he states while smiling, showing Chanyeol two perfect rows of white teeth. Again, before Chanyeol has the chance to answer, his neighbor is out the building and only the chilly breeze that gets inside the building from the opened door shows that he ever had company in the elevator.

Chanyeol stands in the elevator, dumbfounded, but when the doors start to close again, he makes a quick movement to get out of the elevator. Now he’s standing in the cold hallway, dangling his bag near the floor, and just trying to figure out what just happened. The growl of his stomach notifies him that he should get moving and he takes a few steps to get out of the building. Even though the hunger is snickering inside him, when he’s outside, he stops, inhales and loves the feeling of the chilly, fresh air filling his lungs. He shakes his head a little, trying to get his thoughts to where they should be, which is getting to the studio, but it seems like the only thing his brain is ready to process is his intriguing, and apparently claustrophobic, neighbor. He fumbles his hand around in his bag and finds his phone with headphones already plugged in.

He sets the headset over his ears, presses play and a hip-hoppy beat fills his ears and he starts making his way down the street, head still focused on one specific boy.


	2. drinks?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chanyeol is approached with a note, suggesting something rather... surprising.

Chanyeol pulls the hood of his coat over his head to protect himself from the cold wind and makes his way back home from the studio. It’s too-late o’clock and Chanyeol is starving, cold and very, very tired. He worked the whole day on a track which ended up lost in the bit-space because the program he works with decided to crash just when he was exporting the track. Typical Chanyeol’s luck.

 

He feels the bottom of his bag around for his keys when he’s finally made it under the familiar roof of the tower block he lives in. He finds his keys, fumbles them around to find the right key and presses it to the keyhole and turns. The door opens and Chanyeol steps inside the hallway. As he walks up to the elevator, he suddenly remembers the happening of that same morning. A long day at work and his unwavering attention to the track he had worked on had made him forget about his neighbor. A little smile rises upon Chanyeol’s tired face when he remembers the scene in the elevator hours ago.

 

When the elevator finally pings to inform that it’s at his floor, Chanyeol is out of the door as fast as you can open the elevator door. He takes a few leaps and is at his apartment’s door. He opens the door and steps to the vestibule. It takes a few seconds for him to find a place where he sets his bag down because the vestibule isn’t the tidiest. With a few glances, one can see around ten pairs of sneakers and shoes just lying about on the floor, messily, and one coat on the floor in a pile. Chanyeol isn’t really big on cleaning but he scrunches his nose and thinks “maybe I really should clean around here, it’s getting out of hand.”. He leaps over the coat pile and goes to the kitchen. Chanyeol’s apartment is tiny, he likes it small because he feels like he only needs it for sleeping.

 

He opens his fridge and a cold light is looking back at him. “I can’t believe I forgot to go to the store, how the hell do I have such a bad memory?” he curses aloud and stares at the fridge, trying to find something to eat. He lifts a carton of orange juice and some left-over Chinese food from a few nights over to the table and closes the fridge. He pours himself a glass of the juice and puts the carton back inside the fridge. Not bothering to find a plate, he grabs the left-overs and the glass of the juice and walks to his couch. He sprawls over the couch and makes himself comfortable.

 

There is nothing on the TV at this time of the night but he scrolls through the channels and sets on some reality TV-show about fitness training. “Huh, fitness training.. that clearly isn’t for me.” he thinks to himself while stuffing his face with the left-overs. He finishes the food quickly and downs the glass of orange juice straight away. He makes an approving noise and pushes himself off the couch. Tonight he bothers to take the dishes to the sink. Yawning, he drags himself to the bathroom to brush his teeth, shower can wait until morning.

 

The entrance to his small bathroom is in the vestibule, so when he walks towards the bathroom, he can’t help but to notice a piece of paper on top of the shoes scattered around. His brows furrow a bit in confusion and he bends down to pick the paper up. It seems to be a sticky-note, folded in half. He unfolds the note and he sees text written on the other side. The text isn’t long and it’s written clearly:

 

“Hey! I got to thinking and I would like to thank you for helping me this morning, so would you want to have a drink at my place someday (maybe even tonight)? It’s okay if you don’t too!

Ps. I hope this is your apartment, I wasn’t sure.

-Your claustrophobic neighbor, Byun Baekhyun”

 

Chanyeol reads the note over once again, just to be sure that he got it right. “ A drink? At his place? “ he mentally iterates the content of the note. The thought of his friend Sehun pranking him crosses his mind but the word “claustrophobic” throws that option out of the window. He hasn’t told anyone about that morning so there’s no way Sehun could know about his neighbor’s phobia.

 

For a moment, Chanyeol weights the options, but decides that whatever his choice is, he needs to brush his teeth first. He crumbles the note and pushes it inside the back pocket of his black jeans and opens the bathroom door.

 

Brushing his teeth, Chanyeol’s mind wanders to the boy next door. “What harm could it do? It’s just a drink, he isn’t waiting for nothing more than a drink. It would be the polite thing to do since he is offering..” he thinks to himself. After finishing brushing his teeth, he’s made his decision; since he was invited, it’s polite to go, so he’s going. But first he needs to change out of these tired work clothes so he wanders half-mindedly to his closet and picks out black pants and a white tee.

 

After he’s changed into those clothes, he walks up to a mirror and goes through his hair, trying to make it a little more airy. The hair remains flat so he sighs, shurgs and leaves it as it is. “Why am I doing all this, it’s just a drink..” he wonders while tying his shoelaces and picking his keys from the parquet floor. He opens his door and closes the little distance there is between his and his neighbor-, wait, Baekhyun’s door. He exhales a few times behind the closed door. “When did I get this nervous about one drink? Calm yourself, Chanyeol, it’s fine!” he cheers himself up mentally and knocks on the door lightly, keeping in mind that it’s late.

 

A few seconds later, the door creaks open and a familiar head peeks out of the small creak. A grin is painted across his neighbor’s face when he says “Oh, it’s you!” and opens the door some more to sign that Chanyeol is welcome inside. A nervous smile decorates Chanyeol’s face when he takes a small step and is inside Baekhyun’s apartment. “Go ahead, you can leave your shoes to that closet over there!” Baekhyun declares as he shuts the door after Chanyeol.

 

It’s immaculately clean inside his apartment and Chanyeol is amazed. He carefully unties his shoes, thinking why would he even wear shoes for the tiny distance between their doors. Baekhyun has already opened the door of one of the closets so he assumes that that’s the closet Baekhyun told about a moment ago. He sets his shoes neatly in the closet, rises from the squatting position and looks around. “It’s really clean in here..” he thinks aloud as he takes notes of the apartment. “Yeah, I like it neat, I feel like you need to have a clean space to concentrate in.” he hears an answer to his somewhat rhetorical question. Chanyeol spins around to look at his neighbor and nods.

 

“The kitchen is there, if you’re up for the drink?” Baekhyun asks and starts walking towards the left corner of the apartment. Chanyeol just follows blindly, because what else could he do in a unfamiliar apartment. Baekhyun’s kitchen is as neat is everything else Chanyeol’s seen during the few minutes he’s been inside. A dark kitchen level dominates the decoration of the kitchen and some plants decorate it sophisticatedly. “Sit.” he hears and is snapped out of checking the apartment out. Baekhyun’s arm is pointed out and it gestures Chanyeol to sit on one of the bar stools around the kitchen level. He sits obediently and looks at Baekhyun, questioning what’s going to happen next. Baekhyun turns his back to Chanyeol and seems to be preparing the lot talked about drinks.

 

“Were you.. waiting for me behind the door?” Chanyeol asks with a grin slipping on his lips. He doesn’t give Baekhyun a chance to answer before he adds: “ I didn’t hear any steps so either you were waiting or then your step is as light as an elves.”. Satisfied with what he said, he leans back, crosses his arms and waits for an answer. Chanyeol usually doesn’t behave like this, he isn’t what some people could call cocky, at all, but something about this Byun Baekhyun guy makes him want to challenge him.

 

The only noise filling the apartment now is the clinking of the glasses as Baekhyun pours something from another glass to another. “I wasn’t exactly.. waiting.. on you, I was just chilling in the vestibule, you got something against that?” he asks as he turns back to face Chanyeol with a glass in each hand. It seemed like the drink Chanyeol was about to get is yoghurt soju, which was one of his favorite cocktails to drink. “You chill in the vestibule often, huh?” Chanyeol fires back as he accepts the cocktail Baekhyun is now passing out to him. He takes a sip and the familiar soft taste of yoghurt and soju fill his tastebuds. Baekhyun pulls a chair out for himself and seats himself opposite Chanyeol and takes a few sips from his own drink.

 

“No, I don’t hang in the vestibule often and yes, I was waiting for you when I heard that someone opened a door in the hallway. You happy now?” he states, crooks his head and looks at Chanyeol. Chanyeol snorts a little and nods a few times. “Yeah, I’m happy now.” he answers and takes another sip of his drink, crossing his legs under the table. “Why did he wait for me? This is weird.” Chanyeol thinks to himself as his eyes go back to roaming around the kitchen. There are some more plants on the counters and some clean, white containers possibly filled with ingredients for cooking. It’s so different from Chanyeol’s own apartment, the difference is massive, even the feel of the apartment is a lot more.. fancy.

 

“Do you like cooking?” he asks Baekhyun and looks at him with curious eyes. This time, he waits for an answer before adding anything else. Baekhyun sets his glass down and leans his upper body on the counter a little more. The answer is a simple “Yes.” and nothing else, making Chanyeol think about additional questions. His brain flow is cut when Baekhyun adds: “I just don’t have a lot of time to cook, having university to attend and all.” Baekhyun looks at him with smiling eyes, twiddling his glass around in his hand. 

 

“Ah, of course! That’s understandable, I bet university takes a lot of time and energy.” Chanyeol answers, hopefully sounding like he knows something about university when in reality, he doesn’t know one thing about how it works.

 

“Do you cook?” Baekhyun returns the favor of asking and looks at Chanyeol quirkily, while biting his lower lip. Chanyeol shakes his head and looks down. “I’m not necessarily good at it so I don’t, I mostly eat takeaways or my friend Kyungsoo’s cookings.” he answers and lifts his head up to meet Baekhyun’s eyes. Baekhyun’s smug smirk takes Chanyeol by surprise when the other boy suggests something: “ Why don’t I cook something for you? You must be hungry at this hour. “. Chanyeol’s eyes widen and he hesitates a little before nodding. “Sure, but only if you want.” he says with a smile on his face. Baekhyun’s mouth curves into a smile and he nods.

 

“Then let’s get this show on the road. “

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyyy! the 2nd chapter is here, im sorry i kept you waiting :)! this was originally planned to be a two-shot but seems like you're getting a longer one. i hope you don't mind that!! comments are always welcome and i hope you enjoy!


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having fun while cooking wasn't in Chanyeol's vocabulary before. It is now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is helllla late, im sorry! this fic is gonna be a hell longer than i first thought but its okay lmao
> 
> have fun reading!! comments and kudos are appreciated :)
> 
> also , i have no fucking idea how to make kimchi spagetti so . its just whipped up

Baekhyun slides down from the bar stool and his feet hit the floor with a small thump. He starts huddling around the kitchen, seemingly collecting ingredients. He squats down in front of a closet and looks for something when suddenly he turns his head to look at Chanyeol. “Do you have any spices?” he asks, questioning expression painted on his face. “Um.. well I’ve got salt, pepper and then some leftover ramyeon flavor packets but I feel like those aren’t the type of spices that you’re talking about.” Chanyeol answers with a little chuckle and scratches his head.

“No, those will totally not do.” Baekhyun sounds determined when he peeks his head in the closet and scrambles it for something. He stands up, holding at least six spice containers. “These should do.” he states while he softly kicks the closet door shut. “Can you fetch me that basket right there?” he says and points to a shelf, opposite of Chanyeol. Chanyeol scrambles to stand up and easily fetches the basket from the shelf. He places it on the counter and waits for more instructions. “Here, just take these and put them in there.” Baekhyun says and shoves the spices on to Chanyeol’s hold. Chanyeol turns around to prop the items into the basket and hears the fridge open. 

Cans or containers are taken out and shoved onto his arms. “These too.” commands Baekhyun’s voice and Chanyeol can only obey.  
For some five minutes, Baekhyun keeps finding more and more stuff that first get propped onto Chanyeol’s hold and then into the basket. The basket is now almost overflowing with different kitchen supplies and ingredients. “Hmmm…I think that’s about it.” Baekhyun says, sounding pleased. 

“And if I forgot something, the distance isn’t that long to come and fetch it from here.” he says, laughing and winks at Chanyeol. “If you could be so nice and take the basket, I’ll take the soju.” he then smiles at Chanyeol and turns around on his heels to get a hold of some bottles, still on the counter.  
They make their way out of Baekhyun’s apartment to the hallway. Baekhyun had persisted that Chanyeol would leave his shoes there because “you don’t really need shoes for this little distance, right?” and questions why he even had them on in the first place.

“This is my door.” Chanyeol whispers when they reach his door, before realizing Baekhyun knows because of the note left earlier. Quickly, he adds : “But you already knew that didn’t you?” following with a little snicker. His hand goes to his back pocket and pulls out his keys, decorated with a One Piece key chain. He quietly opens the door and nods to the direction of the apartment, signaling Baekhyun go in first. 

Chanyeol steps in after him and nudges the light switch and the small apartment is filled with dim light. The contrast between the two apartments is way too apparent now that the lights are on. The shoes are still scattered around in the vestibule and Chanyeol curses in his head for not organizing his apartment at all. How could he have known that someone would be coming over? 

Baekhyun moves forward into the apartment, looking around when he reaches teeny tiny “dining” area before the entrance to the kitchen. “ I see you like to make your apartment …. cozy.” Chanyeol hears and turns his head to face the other boy, a faint blush heating the apples of his cheeks. Before he can answer anything, Baekhyun adds: “I like it, this is what I thought your apartment could look like.” and flashes a beautiful, bright smile. He then walks into the kitchen like he owns the place and sets the soju bottles on the counter. Chanyeol follows him quickly, setting the basket on the counter as well.

“So, I think you could prepare some drinks for us, and I can get on with the food, hmm don’t you think?” Baekhyun quickly suggests, leaning to the counter with a cheeky look in his eyes. “That, I can do.” Chanyeol nods and smiles. He takes a few steps, moving to make room for Baekhyun to get to the stove. The smaller boy slides in front of the stove and turns it on. “ Yay, we have the same stoves!” he then notes, voice rising little from the excitement. Chanyeol just laughs at the cute act. 

Chanyeol finishes pouring them second glasses of soju and offers one to Baekhyun. “I’ll take it right away, I just need to get these onions on the pan first.” he answers without lifting his gaze from the onions he is cutting with quite finesse. Chanyeol places the tall glass of soju on the counter and looks at the other boy. “You know, I do have pans, you didn’t have to take yours with you..” he says in a playful tone. Baekhyun snorts and turns to Chanyeol. “Well, you kind of answered that question when you said you had ramyeon flavor packets when I asked for spices, so I didn’t want to take the chance.” 

The delicious smell of onion frying fills the tiny apartment and Baekhyun finally takes a hold of the soju. Chanyeol comes up with a thought and before he can stop himself, he clears his throat and begins: “Should we raise a glass because this is the first time I’m getting home cooked food in like a month?”. Baekhyun smiles widely and bows a little: “Well, of course we should! I’m glad I can be of service!”. They clink their glasses, take a sip and simultaneously burst into laughter.

When they recover from the laughing fit, Baekhyun questions Chanyeol and asks: “Is that true?”. Chanyeol gets that he’s referring to his “toast” a moment earlier. He shrugs as Baekhyun turns back to face the stove and stirs the onions. “Yeah, I’m not really big on cooking because I suck at it and my friend only rarely has time to cook for me. And to be entirely honest with you, I don’t really ask him to cook either because well, I’d rather not bother him just because I can’t cook.” he then answers to Baekhyun’s question and takes a few sips of his soju. “Well, I guess you’re in for a treat then today, aren’t you?” Baekhyun asks teasingly and focuses on the pouring something on to the pan. 

“You’re making kimchi spaghetti, aren’t you?” Chanyeol asks, excitement in his voice and eyes twinkling like stars when he recognizes the familiar scent of kimchi sauce now steaming from the pan. “You guessed it!” Baekhyun twirls around and says gleefully. “The sauce will need to simmer for some time now, should we sit down or something?” he then adds, picking his glass from the counter and lifting his eyebrow. Without a word, Chanyeol leads the other boy into his equally small living room and Chanyeol thanks himself for not being a lazy-ass for once and taking the dishes to the kitchen earlier that same night.

The boys settle on the sofa, Chanyeol making himself comfortable and encouraging Baekhyun to do the same. When both of them have settled, soju glasses put to rest on the arm rests, they get to talking. Baekhyun quickly explains that he studies acting in the Performing Arts University. This sparks some questions and Chanyeol asks: “So, like, can I see you anywhere? Have you done shows or projects for the public audience yet?”, all while taking another mouthful of his soju after finishing the question. 

Baekhyun giggles, which Chanyeol finds utterly adorable and answers the other boy: “Yeah, I’ve done some musicals and other little projects but unless you’re a total theater geek, I don’t think you’ve seen or heard of any of them”.

“How do you know I’m not a theater geek?” the other boy laughingly strikes a counter question while studying Baekhyun’s tiny face. Baekhyun sips from his glass yet again and answers: “Well, to be honest, you don’t seem the kind, like, at all”.

“Well I guess it’s also your lucky day because I am not a theater geek so you got that right.. but that doesn’t change the fact that I’d be interested in seeing you in a play or musical or any of those acting things someday.” Chanyeol says quirkily and enjoys the feeling of the soju he sipped a moment ago, burning his throat.

“Hold that thought!” Baekhyun exclaims suddenly and jumps up from the couch. He scurries into the kitchen and just then, Chanyeol remembers the food. Before he can stand up, Baekhyun tells him to “sit your butt back down, I’m gonna be right there in a second!” so he slumps back down. Soon, Baekhyun’s head peeks from the open doorway to the kitchen and he says that the food will be ready in about 8 minutes.

Chanyeol nods, smiles at the other boy and taps the spot on the couch next to him. “Does the food need you there as much as I need you here?” Chanyeol slips out before thinking and looks at the other boy awkwardly. That was the soju speaking, not him.

Luckily, the other boy just laughs out loud and makes his way next to Chanyeol. “No, the food will be okay on it’s own. But I’m not so sure about you though.” Baekhyun coos and looks at Chanyeol.  
Chanyeol can feel the points of his ears starting to burn from the words that left the other boy’s lips. He chuckles, definitely feeling the nervousness he’s experiencing revealing itself from the laugh. 

“What about you? What do you do?” Baekhyun then asks him, eyes sparkling enchantingly. Chanyeol loves this part of conversations, as selfish as it sounds, he loves talking about producing music. “I produce music, but I’m still kind of underground.” he finally answers the question. “I barely live on it at this point, but I have hope in what’s to come in the future.” 

Baekhyun sits up and bounces a little on the couch. “Oh, that’s so amazing! Do you have anything you could play me? Or are you one of those pretentious producers who don’t play anything for free?” he asks, crooks his head to the side and furrows his brows. Chanyeol also sits up and begins to explain when Baekhyun interrupts him once again.

“But wait, let’s have that conversation over some delicious, homemade kimchi spaghetti made by none other than me, Byun Baekhyun.” he says while making a grandiloquent gesture and lowering his brunette head. 

This sends both of them into another ab clenching, tears welling laughing fit.

**Author's Note:**

> crossposted on AFF: http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1138132
> 
>  
> 
> chapter 2 coming as soon as i finish it and i get it beta'd!! i have work atm so writing is a rare chance, bear with me! :/


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